The one thing about marketing yourself as a life coach is that you have a lot to prove. You have to display your achievements and what you do and have done. Reputation is everything to you, that's how people are going to be attracted to your business and believe you.

WHAT situation are they in, typically, that you encounter them at? WHERE do you take them to from that point?

Life coaches are a dime a dozen and frankly I cannot think of a more useless set of charcters for the most part...no certification, no experience required; the awful "so what do you want to do?" kind of coaching that makes me want to barf (imagine the footbal coach asking, "So, team, how do you feel you did today?")

Not a dig against you: it's a signal flare that you can, with just a little effort DO SO MUCH BETTER.

Everyone's concerned about traffic, and that's cool, I get it...but if you are beige when the prospect gets to you it won't matter how many leads you bring on over. Get clear on who you're helping first, and that'll make targeting where to look for leads much easier.

Life coaches are a dime a dozen and frankly I cannot think of a more useless set of charcters for the most part...no certification, no experience required;

Luckily IM is such a noble profession that to be a sales coach, author, web designer, conversion coach, sales script supremo etc that you need both certification and experience.

It's a good job otherwise someone might jump from one to another to another.

OP if you are a good life coach then word of mouth should be the first priority.

How established are you?

Have you thought about niche rather than just life coach. I know someone (an ex footballer) who is a life coach to retired footballers very niche but he gets to show his knowledge and experience to the very people that can relate.

Luckily IM is such a noble profession that to be a sales coach, author, web designer, conversion coach, sales script supremo etc that you need both certification and experience.

It's a good job otherwise someone might jump from one to another to another.

OP if you are a good life coach then word of mouth should be the first priority.

How established are you?

Have you thought about niche rather than just life coach. I know someone (an ex footballer) who is a life coach to retired footballers very niche but he gets to show his knowledge and experience to the very people that can relate.

Pretty funny :-D

I'm exaggerating to make a point. But I have also paid $3000 for a coach (back in 2013) who ended up being one of those vacuous "So what do you think you should do?" types. It's a real issue.

Jason is right. Let's assume all life coaches are equally good. How would someone choose a life coach?

Someone might choose a life coach who's Korean because Someone is Korean. Someone might choose a life coach who's Baptist, because Someone is Baptist.
Someone might choose a life coach who is a woman, because Someone feels more comfortable talking to women. Or a man, because Someone feels more comfortable talking to men.

Now, let's assume some life coaches are better than other life coaches.

Someone looking for a Korean life coach is still faced with a choice... There are 4 Korean life coaches in the world. So, Someone's going to look up and down the web to see what people who've already hired these 4 Korean coaches say.

Someone's going to look at these coaches websites... If one of them has published a book and the others have not... that one gets a +. If one of them has been praised by some other coach or famous person, that someone gets a +. If one of them has 37 5-star reviews on Yelp and the others have 4 reviews with 4.1 stars... Need I say more?

I guess so.

So, how do you make yourself a celebrity to your prospects? How do you make yourself an authority?

You do a TED talk, publish a book, get interviewed on radio, tv, a podcast, get your tween retweeted by someone they already trust, etc. Get reviews. Get your mechanic to tell their clients you're awesome. Get your barber to tell his clients you're awesome.

Hop on a forum your prospects visit right before they hire someone like you... Add value.

What is a life coach? And why would anyone in their right mind hire one?

. . . Oh, wait a minute, that's the answer . . . people who hire them aren't in their right mind.

With all due respect, it seems to me that marketing for coaches (of any kind) is not much different than marketing any other kind of service oriented business. You define your audience, learn what they need and want, understand their issues, hopes and dreams, and then find ways you can supply their wants at a profit. Your product is your advice and it's implementation in the client's particular situation.

All of these tasks are customized to your audience (which you should know better than anyone else). With any type of counseling, coaching, or service business, successful case studies, testimonials, and other social proof seem to be good strategies. It doesn't get much better than having former clients singing your praises.

The best way would to promote other life coaches via social and your blog. Doing so builds your friend network. Then when 10 or 30 or 50 other trusted life coaches promote you, your credibility and reach goes through the roof. Easiest way to grow a thriving business but of course, it takes patience, detachment and an abundant mindset aka no fear of the illusion of competition.

You, the client, are the only expert in your entire life who truly knows who you are and what you need. You are the only expert who can recognize what is absolutely best for you. We are simply experts in the coaching process. As your coach, we help you discover what your own personal "best" might be.

I've worked with life coaches before as clients. Without knowing you well enough to give specific advice, here are some general things I would recommend:

1. Don't call your yourself a Life Coach. What problem do you solve? Do you help men over 50 choose their second career after being let go from their current industry? Do you help people adjust to an Empty Nest after the kids leave? Do you help people organize their closets and then take that organization into other parts of their lives? Do you help women over 40 realize what path to take once the kids are teenagers? Do you teach people how to say no to toxic people in their life?

Choose your specialty. Set yourself apart.

2. Make sure you don't just make money from seeing clients. Develop books, e-books, online courses, workshops, etc. Make sure you can make money while you sleep or take a vacation.

3. Have a sample of what you do that you can give away without it taking any of your time. For example, I usually suggest a free 3-day mini course that is delivered via email, or a book. (FYI - I'm biased towards books, so take that with a grain of salt.) The sample should give a good idea of who you are, what you do, what problem you solve. It should be helpful in and of itself, but it should also encourage the recipient to move forward with you.

Online strategy make your knowledgeable and relevant YouTube videos, this is most effective way to connect your audience and grow your business.
Neil Patel and backlinko become a big brand through best channels. You have better opportunity for business success.

Best is "Live Video", Blog Posts. You can create a small pdf which can talk Top 5 things or something similar in exchange for their email. Later You can start developing relationship with them. Its all about bulilding value with your list.

To be honest, even one of my clients wants to promote his leadership seminars now. I suggested to him making live videos would be much more beneficial to his business rather than simply following the tradition of SEO and SMO and other digital marketing forums.

Writing a book based on coaching or getting up at an event and speaking about some aspect of what you do is a fantastic was of raising your profile, establishing yourself as an authority and getting clients.

You need create audience across the location of your coaching Institute, If your competitors are strong in your industry, you should be honest and just try to make big brand and reputation of your institute.
Because today I think every day opening coaching institute for every education field, you should make a strong strategy for business.

I think that online methods are preferable these days. Needless to say, you will need a good website and you should market it properly. But some offline techniques are good these days too. I personally like using different promo items like custom lapel pins or some printed products. I think you will find those helpful to you too, good luck with it